Aerial torpedo or bomb



E. W. JOHNSON. AERIAL ToRPEno o'R BOMB.

APPLICATION 'FI LED NOV. 26, 19H.

v @Home HA E. w. JOHNSON.

AERIAL TORPEDO 0R BOMB.

APPLICATION FILED IlOV. 2G, I9l7.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

Y mers and sears removed;

' has been effected;

Unirse sra EDWARD W. JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

AERIAL TORPEDO OR BOMB.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

Application led November 26, 1917. Serial No. 203,984.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD VJ. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the' county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Aerial Torpedoes or Bombs, of which the following'v is a speciii cation.

This invention pertains to aerial torpedoes or bombs, adapted and designed more particularly to be dropped from an aeroplane, and to explode or discharge when they have traveled through space va given distance.

The main obj ect of the invention is to produce a structure which will be caused to function by its passage through the air, and one which, by reason of its formation, will fall true, or in a straight line.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the bomb may be safely handled and readily set or primed when it is desired to drop the same overboard with a view of having it .take its flight of destruction. A v

With these and other objects'and advantages in view, as will appear from the following description, reference will be made to the annexed drawings, wherein;

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view ofthe structure, with the parts in proper position to function and produce an explosion when the bomb has traveleda given distance;

Fig. la, a side elevation of the structure;

Fig. 2 a view similar to Fig. 1, showing Athe operative parts in that relation which they assume when an explosion of the bomb Fig. 3 a perspective view of the device; Fi 4 a transverse sectional View, on the line V-IV of Fig. 5, with one of the ham- Fig. 5 a vertical sectional view, on the line V--V of Fig. 4, the sear being shown in section;

Fig. 6v :a transverse vertical sectional view, on the line VI- VI of Fig. V5, the sear being shown in full and thejsafety slide present as it is in Figs. 4 and 5; r l

Fig. 7 ra detail sectional view illustrative of a slight modification of the device; and

f Fig. 8 a-sectional View showing a slightly dierent arrangement-of the lower portion ofthe bomb. n y

Referring to the drawings, the structure in Ageneral terms may `be-said to comprise a body having fixed wingsV or finswhichl cause it tomaintain its direction during' iiight without rotation, an explosive-containing chamber with Which may be associated various other chambers containing, for instance, projectiles, gas, mustard or other materials, a firing-*mechanism housed or inclosed within the main body, and a trigger brought into operation through the action of a propeller which partakes of a rotary motion as the'structure passes through space during its flight.

vln the drawings, l denotes a dome-shaped shell or body, having a plurality of radiallydisposed vertical wings or fins 2, extending outwardly'therefrom, the upper end of the body curving inwardly and terminating in a hub 3. A nut 4 is secured in the hub and a shaft 5 is threaded into the nut, said shaft having secured to its outer upper end a propeller 6. The inner end of the shaft carries a cone-shaped member ortrigger 7, which, when the shaft is screwed inwardly, comes' into contact with two oppositely-disposed searsl 8. Saidsears are alike in form and each one is pivotallymounted upon a pin 9"secured in fixed posts or supporting elements 10. V'lkhe upper inner edge of each sear will preferably vbe cut away or rounded out, as at 11, Fig. 6, to permit the pointed end of the trigger or actuator 7 to readily pass in between the oppositely-disposed sears and to cause the same to swing free of the notch of the hammers, which latter are denoted by l2. A spring 13 connects the two sears above the line of their pivots and tends to throw the lower ends outwardly and beneath the hammer notches. A spring 14, underlies each hammer, the lower elements of said springs resting upon the upper face 15 of a cylindrical chamberor boxlike ele-ment, the side walls of which are denoted' by 16, and the posts or supporting ,elements 10 are likewise secured to such upper face. VThe box-like element or chamber is designed tohold the explosive charge, which maybe vof any desired material or type, and the lower end of the chamber is closed by a relatively thin diskor partition 17. Said upper wall 15 is provided with two openings 18, and lugs or teats 19 are formed upon the upper face ofsaid wall 15 in line with such openings. The fulminating caps (denoted by 20) are adapted to lbe placed in such openings 18, and the parts are so proportioned that they directly underlie thefstriking nose or point of the hammers 12. By providing the lugs or teats 19 one is enabled to more readily place the caps in position though, of course, the presence of these lugs is not essential to the invention.

The explosive containing chamber is mounted in the upper end of a cylindrical housing or member 21, the upper end of whichis threaded, and when the parts are assembled, is screwed into the lower open end of the shell or body 1. Holes or openings 22 are formed in the opposite sides of the cylindrical housing or member 21 in line with the upper faces of the lugs or teats 19, and the hammer-supporting members are likewise notched, as at 23 (Figs. 1 and 2), said notches standing in alinement with the slots or holes 22. A safety slide 24, is adapted to be passed inwardly throughthe holes 22 and through the notches 23, and to overlie the fulminating caps 20, thereby preventing the hammers from detonating the charge should the' bomb be subjected to accidental jar which might throw the sear out of locking relation with the hammers. Thus the device may be readily handled without fear of premature discharge, it being understood, of course, that when the bomb is dropped overboard from an aeroplane or the'like the slide will be withdrawn. Said slide is shown in position in Figs. 3 to' 6, and is omitted from Figs. 1 and 2.

A proj ectile-containing chamber is formed kin the lower portion of the member 21,

and in the preferred form the lower end of this projectile-containing chamber is coneshaped, as at 25 (see Fig. la). The wall of the chamber may be made of material which will readily disintegrate under the explosive effect of the charge.

Any suitable form of projectile may be employed, but I prefer to use that shown in Fig. 1, which may be said to consist of a bullet-like body 26, having formed upon its rear end a spherical member 27. These projectiles will preferably be buried in some material which will keep them from shifting as, for instance, talc or the like, filled with glycerin, and asV shown in Fig. 1, the projectiles will be set at different angles in 'such substance or body, and when an eXplosion takes place they will maintain their line of flight in substantially the direction in which vthey are set within the chamber. This is due to the spherical end upon the rear of theV projectile.

An adjusting collar 28will preferabl be placed upon thepropeller-shaft 5, 'w ich collarl may be run downwardly upon the shaft 'and secured in place to prevent the accidental turning of the shaft inwardly to such a position as would release the sears and cause them to permit the hammers to be thrown downwardly.

In use the cylindrical member 21 is un-A screwed from the shell or body 1, the primers or fulminating caps 20 placed in position, and slide 24 then inserted, the hammers 12, of course, being cocked. The member 21, with the contained explosive charge and the projectile charge therein, will then be screwed back into the shell or casing 1, and the collar 28 likewise screwed down upon the shaft to prevent the same from being turned inwardly and accidentally releasing the sears. With the parts in this position the bomb may be readily handled without fear of explosion. When, however, it is desired to have the parts placed in operative relation, the collar 28 is turned backwardly and the slide 24 withdrawn. Then, upon dropping the bomb overboard, it will take a downward flight, being guided by the wings or vanes 2, and dropping straight. The shaft 5 will be rotated by the action of the air impinging directly against the blades of the propeller 6, the air striking such blades directly by reason of its passing upwardly between the wings 2. This rotation will cause the shaft to turn inwardly and eventually to bring the parts to the positions shown in Fig. 2, where theV sears will be withdrawn from the hammer-notches, and

the hammers thrown forwardly and into contact with the caps or fulminating charge 20, thereby causing an explosion of the charge within the chamber directly underlying the caps. Such explosion will disrupt the relatively thin disk 17 and likewise the projectile-containing chamber, throwing the projectiles and the partsy ofthe casing 1n all directions.

The length of the interval between the time when the projectile is dropped and the moment of explosion may be determined by the position of the trigger or acuating member 7; that is to say, whether it has to travel a greater or less distance before it impinges upon and releases the sears y8, and the user of the bomb can readily determine this by screwing the shaft in orl out to a greater or less extent. Naturally, if the actuator 7 stands aconsiderable distance from the sears the shaft will have to make a greater number of revolutions before it contacts with the sears than would be the case if the actuator stood close to the sears.`

While'the device would, of course, function with but one hammer, two are employed as a factor of safety, for the reason that it sometimes happens that the caps are defective, but it is scarcely conceivable that both caps (where two are present) wouldffail to function.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a modication bf the structure, wherein the hammer mechamsm, as such, is omitted and the propellercarrying shaft acts, when moved inwardly to a predetermined extent, to effect the functioning of the detonator.

In said figure the shell or casing l is provided with wings 2, as under the other construction, and the propeller and shaft are also present. The shaft, however, is provided with a short threaded section only, and a spring 29 surrounds the same, bearing at one end on the upper face of the coneshaped member 7 and at its opposite end against the under face of the nut 4L.

The upper face ofthe explosive-containing chamber is provided with a single opening, and that to receive a detonating cap, which stands in axial alinement with the shaft and head or member 7, which in effect becomes a hammer or striker to detonate the cap. As will be readily appreciated, when the shaft is screwed in by the action of the propeller so tl at the threads thereon clear the inner end of the nut, the spring 29, which is still under compression, will drive the point of the head or member 7 into Contact with the ca i and detonate the same.

buch short thread and spring arrangement may also be employed with the -sear and hammer mechanism above described, in which event the head 7 will strike the sears and release the same. This arrangement being obvious, I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate the same.

In Fig. 8 a still further modification is illustrated wherein the conical chamber at theV lower end of the structure is employed as a container for gas, inflammable oil, or the like.V The explosion of the charge will cause both of the chambers to become effective, to wit, those containing the projectiles and the oil, gas or mustard.

It is to be noted in connection with this invention that the structure will function without Contact with any object, and that the full force of the explosion is thereby utilized, which is not the case where the contact of the bomb with the earth is depended upon, much of the explosive force being wasted under such arrangements. y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: v

l. A bomb comprising in combination, a hollow body; a nut mounted in the upper end thereof; a plurality of longitudinallyextending, radially-disposed wings projecting outwardly from the body; a chamber detachably secured to the lower end of the body and adapted to contain an explosive charge and a plurality of projectiles; a screw-threaded shaft mounted in the nut; a propeller secured to the outer end of the shaft; a hammer located above the chamber; and a sear for the hammer, said sear standing in the path of movement of the shaft and adapted to be released thereby when the shaft is moved inwardly under the action of the propeller, whereby the hammer will be likewise released and cause an explosion of the charge.

2. A bomb comprising, in combination, a hollow body; a plurality of longitudinallyextending, radially-disposed wings projecting outwardly therefrom; a screw-threaded shaft mounted to rotate in the upper end of the body and in axial alinement therewith; a propeller mounted on the upper end of the shaft; a cone-shaped member secured to the inner end of the shaft; an explosive and proj ectile-containing chamber detachably secured to the lower end of the -hollow body, said chamber having two openings extending throughA its upper wall and over which detonating caps are designed to be placed; a pair of oppositely-disposed, spring-actuated hammers arranged adjacent said openings; and a sear for each hammer, saidsears,

when in holding relation with the hammers, standing in the path of movement of the cone-shaped member aforesaid' and adapted to be released thereby when the shaft is moved inwardly under the action of the propeller.

3. A bomb comprising a body, a plurality of wings extending radially therefrom; a threaded shaft mounted in the upper portion of the body; a propeller secured to the outer end of the shaft; an explosive and projectile-containing chamber secured to the body; a firing mechanism embodying a pair of spring actuated hammers and a sear for each hammer arranged above the chamber, said sears being adapted to be released by the shaft as it is moved inwardly; and a removable safety slide underlying the firing mechanism.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

EDWARD W. JOHNSON. 

